Protests against new anti-democratic laws in Ukraine are increasing in intensity, with four citizens reported dead. As you can see in these extraordinary images by Ilya Varlamov, the demonstrators are using rockets made with fireworks. They look like scenes from some science-fiction movie about urban warfare.

The latest reports talk about at least four people killed and hundreds injured by the police. After the massive protests against the government's rejection against the European Union in favor of an alliance with the former Russian oppressors, Kiev officials announced new repressive laws limiting the people's right to protest. These urban battles are the people's reaction to those laws.

Ukraine was a former Soviet Republic, created after a civil war between pro-communist and the Ukrainian People's Republic armies at the beginning of the 20th century, right after the fall of the Russian Empire. The communists won, and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was established. In theory, it was an independent state, but in fact—like all republics in the USSR and satellite countries—it was under a tight control by the Kremlin.

It's like Ann Coulter says about liberals: they fight and fight to change the law, and if they are successful the moment it passes....settled law! No going back! Same here with the protestors. Violence and violence and violence until....peace! And no going back either dammit.

Just because a government is democratic doesn't mean it can't be tyrannical or oppress people.

Oleksandr Turchynov, who stepped in as acting president after Yanukovych's flight, condemned the takeover of government buildings in Crimea as a "crime against the government of Ukraine." He warned that any move by Russian troops off of their base in Crimea "will be considered a military aggression."

"Unidentified people with automatic weapons, explosives and grenades have taken over the governmental buildings and the Parliament building in the autonomous region of Crimea," he said. "I have given orders to the military to use all methods necessary to protect the citizens, punish the criminals, and to free the buildings."

Oooooh, this is rich. The new Kiev government is now threatening to use armed force against protestors.

It's a shame that the public has been more or less stripped of firearms in Ukraine. Maybe the police would be less likely to point their AKs at protestors if the protestors weren't unarmed.

This is a pretty interesting illustration. They can't actually resist the government or fight for their liberty in the traditional sense. All they can do is try to make the international news by getting shot/beaten/etc

It's a shame that the public has been more or less stripped of firearms in Ukraine.

Same in Venezuela with the assistance of the UN. I find it interesting that a country closer to us, virtually our backyard, is undergoing similar violence and acts against the govt, with Cuba involved and it's not getting as much play here as the Ukraine much further away. If Venezuela's socialist regime falls, it would likely have a domino effect in the rest of So America's leftist govts.

It's a shame that the public has been more or less stripped of firearms in Ukraine. Maybe the police would be less likely to point their AKs at protestors if the protestors weren't unarmed.

This is a pretty interesting illustration. They can't actually resist the government or fight for their liberty in the traditional sense. All they can do is try to make the international news by getting shot/beaten/etc

I don't follow this at all. The protestors didn't need handguns because they already stormed an armory in Lviv and were carrying military style weapons to Maidan Square. If anything, Yanukovich proves that no dictator (sic) can resist an angry mob if it's large enough.

__________________"My glutes are shutting off. So I tried to activate my glutes as best I could in between, but they never stayed activated." - Tiger Woods 2/5/15

I don't follow this at all. The protestors didn't need handguns because they already stormed an armory in Lviv and were carrying military style weapons to Maidan Square. If anything, Yanukovich proves that no dictator (sic) can resist an angry mob if it's large enough.

__________________

"As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind I'd still be in prison."

Same in Venezuela with the assistance of the UN. I find it interesting that a country closer to us, virtually our backyard, is undergoing similar violence and acts against the govt, with Cuba involved and it's not getting as much play here as the Ukraine much further away. If Venezuela's socialist regime falls, it would likely have a domino effect in the rest of So America's leftist govts.

You have no idea of what the **** you're talking about.

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The diameter of your knowledge is the circumference of your actions. Ras Kass

(Reuters) - Ukraine's new prime minister said on Thursday loans worth $37 billion had gone missing from state coffers during ousted President Viktor Yanukovich's rule, and warned that unpopular measures were needed to salvage the economy.

With the hryvnia currency in freefall and concerns about the low level of foreign currency reserves growing, Arseny Yatseniuk said the country urgently needed loans from the International Monetary Fund, which is visiting Kiev next week.

The scale of alleged theft implied by Yatseniuk in a speech to parliament was jaw-dropping, even for a population now used to tales of Yanukovich's extravagance and lavish lifestyle, including his luxury residence outside Kiev.

The average salary in Ukraine is around $500 a month.

In addition to the missing $37 billion, Yatseniuk said as much as $70 billion had been sent out of the country during Yanukovich's three-year rule, although he did not make clear how much of this capital flight was illegal.

"I want to report to you - the state treasury has been robbed and is empty," he said before the national assembly voted him in as head of a national unity government.

"Thirty-seven billion dollars of credit received have disappeared in an unknown direction ... (and) the sum of 70 billion dollars was paid out of Ukraine's financial system into off-shore accounts."

At today's rate, $70 billion is equal to about half Ukraine's gross domestic product in 2013.

Only 4.3 billion hryvnia - $430 million - was left in government accounts, Yatseniuk said, although the central bank's foreign currency reserves stand at $15 billion.